Holder for electroplating



H. M. BLAETZ.

HOLDER FOR ELECTROPLATING.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. I7, 1920.

1,354,234. Pandsept. 28,1920.

@fyi %9 5 9 WAH . ited on any spots or places on the support- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY M. PLAETZ, OP PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIGNoR. To ROYAL ELEOTROTYPE COMPANY, A CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

HOLDER FOR ELECTROPLATING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

A`Application led January 17, 1920. Serial No. 352,030.

To all lwhom t may concern Be it known that I, HARRY M. BLAETZ, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Holders for Electroplating, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain novel and useful improvements in a holder adapted to be employed in the making of lead-molding electrotypes.

In the printing art, in the making of leadmolding electrotypes, it is the practice to impress a thin flat sheet of lead against a copper engraving, etching or other original for the purpose of reproducing the printing face in the lead sheet. This lead sheet is then nailed to a board or metal plate covered with wax to prevent the deposition of the electroplating material on such supporting board or plate. The board with the lead plate fastened thereon is then suspended in l the electroplating bath, the electroplating solution being deposited by the usual method upon the matrix face of the lead sheet until a metallic shell is formed which is subsequently removed from the lead sheet and backed up by any well known method to form an electroplate. After a shell has been made, it is necessary to scrape off particles of copper or nickel which have been deposing board which have .not been made thoroughly non-conductive by dipping in the wax. It is then necessary to re-dip the board in the wax bath, or go over the board with a hot iron to cover up nail holes which have been made in-:the nailing of sheets of lead to the same. y

Heretofore, it has been the practice to nail vor otherwise fasten a number of small molded or matrix lead sheets against the board preparatory to suspendin vthe latter in the bath, the sheets having. een individually cut to the required size. Inasmuch as the nails, studs or other fastening devices holding the lead sheets to the board are of metal, and accumulation or deposition of the electro-plating material is liable to take place upon these metallicpoints. y

Furthermore, the practice of cutting the lead sheets into small sections and then mounting the same upon and subsequently removing them from the board is both timeconsuming and expensive.

To obviate above objections I have provided a holder for a lead plate which is composed of such material that it is impossible for an electroplating solution to be deposited thereon and furthermore this board is of itself of sufficient weight and stability that it will hangin a true vertical position in the bath without resorting to the use of weights or the like.

. Another advantage incident to my holder is that a relatively large lead sheet may be readily mounted upon and removed therefrom. This feature enables me to lay out a number of cuts, etchings or the like in a single form, with due regard to the position that the vprinted matter is to occupy upon the paper. I may then take an impression of this large assembled form upon a single lead sheet, suspend the sheet from my holder or electroplate in the usual manner, thereby ob-v viating the necessity of fastening small individual impressed lead sheets upon the board.

Another object of my invention is to form the board of such material that it will maintain .its shape indefinitely without warping, buckling or shrinking, which will possess the desired features of strength, durability and convenience. I also equip my holder with means whereby the lead sheet may be easily and quickly mounted and removed without nailing, screwing or the like.

With the above recited objects, and others of a similar nature in view my invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in and fallin within the scope of the appended claims.

n the accompanying drawlngs: Figure 1, is a perspective view of my improved holder, and showing a lead plate tion is preferably made from a composition of `fiber and a synthetic resin, such as a phenolic condensation product, of which there are a number of well known varieties upon the market, of which might be menl the parallel retaining guides B.

ploya suitable clam tioned bakelite and condensite.- In the preparation of this body portion the composition, composed of the liber and phenolic condensation product, is pressed and heated until the phenolic condensation assumes its reacted state when, as .is well known it is in a hard, set and substantially infusible form. Owing to the character of the materials employed the body portion will be much heavier than a board of wood or liber, and will of its own weight hang vertically in the solution or-bath. In addition such a board will possess smooth, hard,

polished and impervious faces, and having no affinity for an electroplating solution, the latter will not accumulate or deposit upon this board-like body portion. At the side edges of the body portion I provide In the present instance each guide is composed of a relatively narrow strip 2 fastened to the body portion, and a relatively wide strip 3 imposed upon strip 2, so that an openfaced slot 3 is formed at the inner edgeof each guide. employed to fasten the strips to each other and.to the body portion, the heads of these studs being also preferably covered with phenolic condensation product as at 5 to prevent the deposit of electroplating material thereon. The construction of the guides B shown herein is merely by way of illustration, as these guides may be of any desired form, for example, they may be integral with the body, in the molding operation of making the latter, or they may be in the nature of rabbeted strips, or they may y*be made adjustable to each other so that they can b e shifted toward and from the center linev of the board, Ain any well known manner, as by a slot and stud arrangement, so as to accommodate lead sheets of different widths. In actual practice the lead sheet which is shown at L is slipped beneath the guides B in a face to face contact with the` body portion as is shown in Fig. 1.

In order to hold the lead sheet suspended in the position shown in Fig. 1, I may emindicated as an entirety bythe 'letter In'the presentl in- .sta'nce,l the clamp shown in Fig. 2 comprises aback strap 5 of any suitable material, such asmetal, having Vits lower end formed with an off-set or flange 6 constituting a hook which engages with the slot 7 formed adjacent the top edge of the board A, and the upper end of this backstrap 5 is curled or Suitable studs or rivets 4 are pended from the usual hanger rod of the container of the electroplating bath. The other' member of the clamp comprises a front strap 8, the upper end of which is curled or bent as at 9 to form a. handhold, and immediately beneath this curled portion the strap has a short flat section 1() .which is adapted to lie in face to face 4contact with the adjacent section of the back strap. 5, and to be bolted or otherwise secured thereto as shown at 11. Immediately below this section 10 the front strap is bent outward and downward as at 12 forming an off-set, and immediately below this off-set portion the strap extends straight or in parallelism with the back strap 5, as shown at 13, the lower, end of this straight section 13 of the front strap being bent rearward at right angles to form a hook-like edge or tooth 14 which is adapted to engage orpress against the lead sheet. This engaging edge 14 of the clamp may be in Athe nature of a knife edge flange, or if desired lthis flange may be serrated as willy be readily understood.v It will of course be evident that by uniting the front strap with the back strap as by'the studs or rivets 11, and then providing the front /strap with the off-set, a spring clamping tongue is formed which will act to clamp or hold the lead plate in place upon the board. For the purpose of tightening and loosening the clamp I may provide a set screw 15 provided with the usual thumb nut 16. As will be evident from Fig. 1 when this clamp yis in use it will retain the lead sheet in properv suspended position on the board and prevent suchend dropping or falling of its own weight.

In Fig. 4, I have shown a modified form of clamp, of somewhat simpler construction. AIn this case the board, a portion of which -is indicated at A', is provided with holes 17 for the reception of hooks by means of which the board may be Suspended from the hanger rod ofthe bath'container. Intermediate these hooks I bolt to the board a metallic clamping strap 18, the studs fol securing the strap being shown at 19. The lower and longer end of the clamping strap illustrated at 20 is provided with an inturned, beveled plate-engaging flange 21 which is adapted to grip the plate. s the rivets or studs 19 fastening the clamping strap are located above the horizontal central line of the clamp. the lower end of the latter may be sprung or pressed upward to permit the insertion of the lead plate therebeneath. and when released the clamping end will of course spring into plate. clampinfr position. ^`v

In the course of operation the holdercarrying the lead plate is placed in the metallic electroplating solution so'that the lead plate is in circuit as usual, such plate forming the cathode While the anode of course hangs a short distance from the cathode, and the clamp forms the connecting point between the negative rod of the cathode and the cathode itself, and the electroplating deposit takes place in the ordinary manner.

After the electroplating has taken place the holder may be removed from the bath and the lead pla-te attached simply by lifting the clamp and slipping the plate from* beneath the guides.

It Will be noted that l have provided an exceedingly simple yet efficient holder for the purpose intended, and this holder is composed of a material Which Will retain its latness of form and shape indefinitely, for it is not subject to warping, buckling or the like, While it possesses great Wear-resisting qualities.

While I have herein shown and described one preferred embodiment of my invention, I Wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to all the precise details of construction herein set forth by Way of illustration, as modification and variation may be made Without departing from the spirit ot' the invention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A device of the class described comprising a fiat body portion, retaining guides mounted thereon and a clamping member carried by the body portion and adapted to hold a plate against the body.

2. 'A device of the class described comprising a body ortion, parallel retaining guides located ad]acent the side edges thereof and a clamping member carried by the body portion and adapted to hold the plate agalnst the body.

3. A device of the class described comprising a board-like body portion, slotted retaining guides carried by the body portion and a spring clamping member carried on the body portion and adapted to engage and clamp the plate against such body portion.

4. A device of the class described com- )risinof a bod )ortion com osed of a ma-v teria] including a hard and set synthetic resin, and plate clamping devices for removably holding a' plate against the body portion.

5. A device of the class described comprising a relatively fiat body portion of a composition of fiber and a hard and set phemembers being providedwith a plate engagl ing edge. y

8. A device of the class described comprising a board-like body portion composed of liber and a hard and vset synthetic resin,

parallel guide strips located at opposite side edges of said body portion and a metallic spring clamp carried by the body portion and adapted to cooperate With the strips to retain arplate against the body portion.

' Signed'at city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, this 14th day of January, A. D.

HARRY M. BLAETZ. 

